The amygdala is a brain area that has recently become one of the hottest topics in neuroscience. Interest in the amygdala is not limited to scientists but also includes the general public and business professionals who are actively seeking more information about the brain machinery governing emotions that control our coping with ongoing everyday life and impact on social signaling. The objective of this meeting is to provide a forum for presenting cutting edge information on the basic characteristics of amygdala function from neuroanatomical, electrophysiological, behavioral, and imaging studies in animals and humans and to integrate that data with the most recent findings in clinical human diseases in which the function of the amygdala is compromised. The desired outcome of the conference is to discuss and perhaps even to reach consensus on the important issues facing the field which impact on our basic understanding of amygdala function. Top experts in the field will meet together for 2.5 days (March 23-26, 2002) at Moody Gardens on Galveston Island, Texas, to discuss the important issues shaping our basic understanding of amygdala function. In plenary presentations and in discussions, critical questions regarding amygdala function at a basic and clinical level will be addressed. Specifically: 1. What is the functional significance of the specific nuclei of the amygdala? Can we use the term "amygdala" to attribute function to these brain areas? Does functional homogeneity between amygdala nuclei exist? Is the "extended" amygdala an anatomical or functional concept? How relevant is this definition for your results? 2. Is the amygdala a critical part of the neuronal circuitry for stimulus-reward associations? 3. Do drugs act at different sites in the amygdala to affect specific behaviors? Sessions will also address such issues as the nuclear structure and nomenclature of the amygdala between different species that is critical for extrapolation of data, for example, from rat/monkey studies to human studies as well as the organization of inhibition and excitation in the amygdala and the breadth of emotions controlled by the amygdala. Other important questions concern whether the amygdala is an integrator or repositor of memories and the role of the amygdala in withdrawal from drugs of abuse. The clinical implications of these functions will be addressed by discussion of symptomatology caused by amygdala damage in Alzheimer's disease and epilepsy and its function in mental illness including anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, and panic disorder. Throughout these discussions, pharmacological information will be presented to provide a foundation for designing drugs for treatment of amygdala pathology. Conference proceedings will be published as a volume of the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.